No Arabic abstract
We have observed the Virgo Cluster spiral galaxy, NGC~4845, at 1.6 and 6 GHz using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, as part of the `Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies -- an EVLA Survey (CHANG-ES). The source consists of a bright unresolved core with a surrounding weak central disk (1.8 kpc diameter). The core is variable over the 6 month time scale of the CHANG-ES data and has increased by a factor of $approx$ 6 since 1995. The wide bandwidths of CHANG-ES have allowed us to determine the spectral evolution of this core which peaks {it between} 1.6 and 6 GHz (it is a GigaHertz-peaked spectrum source).We show that the spectral turnover is dominated by synchrotron self-absorption and that the spectral evolution can be explained by adiabatic expansion (outflow), likely in the form of a jet or cone. The CHANG-ES observations serendipitously overlap in time with the hard X-ray light curve obtained by Nikolajuk & Walter (2013) which they interpret as due to a tidal disruption event (TDE) of a super-Jupiter mass object around a $10^5, M_odot$ black hole. We outline a standard jet model, provide an explanation for the observed circular polarization, and quantitatively suggest a link between the peak radio and peak X-ray emission via inverse Compton upscattering of the photons emitted by the relativistic electrons. We predict that it should be possible to resolve a young radio jet via VLBI as a result of this nearby TDE.
We investigate misaligned accretion discs formed after tidal disruption events that occur when a star encounters a supermassive black hole. We employ the linear theory of warped accretion discs to find the shape of a disc for which the stream arising from the disrupted star provides a source of angular momentum that is misaligned with that of the black hole. For quasi-steady configurations we find that when the warp diffusion or propagation time is large compared to the local mass accretion time and/or the natural disc alignment radius is small, misalignment is favoured. These results have been verified using SPH simulations. We also simulated 1D model discs including gas and radiation pressure. As accretion rates initially exceed the Eddington limit the disc is initially advection dominated. Assuming the $alpha$ model for the disc, where it can be thermally unstable it subsequently undergoes cyclic transitions between high and low states. During these transitions the aspect ratio varies from $sim 1$ to $sim 10^{-3}$ which is reflected in changes in the degree of disc misalignment at the stream impact location. For maximal black hole rotation and sufficiently large values of viscosity parameter $alpha > sim 0.01-0.1$ the ratio of the disc inclination to that of the initial stellar orbit is estimated to be $0.1-0.2$ in the advection dominated state, while reaching of order unity in the low state. Misalignment descreases with decrease of $alpha$, but increases as the black hole rotation parameter decreases. Thus, it is always significant when the latter is small.
Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are transient flares produced when a star is ripped apart by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We have observed a transient source in the western nucleus of the merging galaxy pair Arp 299 that radiated >1.5x10^52 erg in the infrared and radio, but was not luminous at optical or X-ray wavelengths. We interpret this as a TDE with much of its emission re-radiated at infrared wavelengths by dust. Efficient reprocessing by dense gas and dust may explain the difference between theoretical predictions and observed luminosities of TDEs. The radio observations resolve an expanding and decelerating jet, probing the jet formation and evolution around a SMBH.
Radio observations of tidal disruption events (TDEs) - when a star is tidally disrupted by a supermassive black hole (SMBH) - provide a unique laboratory for studying outflows in the vicinity of SMBHs and their connection to accretion onto the SMBH. Radio emission has been detected in only a handful of TDEs so far. Here, we report the detection of delayed radio flares from an optically-discovered TDE. Our prompt radio observations of the TDE ASASSN-15oi showed no radio emission until the detection of a flare six months later, followed by a second and brighter flare, years later. We find that the standard scenario, in which an outflow is launched briefly after the stellar disruption, is unable to explain the combined temporal and spectral properties of the delayed flare. We suggest that the flare is due to the delayed ejection of an outflow, perhaps following a transition in accretion states. Our discovery motivates observations of TDEs at various timescales and highlights a need for new models.
Tidal disruption events (TDEs), in which stars are gravitationally disrupted as they pass close to the supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxies, are potentially important probes of strong gravity and accretion physics. Most TDEs have been discovered in large-area monitoring surveys of many 1000s of galaxies, and the rate deduced for such events is relatively low: one event every 10$^4$ - 10$^5$ years per galaxy. However, given the selection effects inherent in such surveys, considerable uncertainties remain about the conditions that favour TDEs. Here we report the detection of unusually strong and broad helium emission lines following a luminous optical flare (Mv < -20.1 mag) in the nucleus of the nearby ultra-luminous infrared galaxy F01004-2237. The particular combination of variability and post-flare emission line spectrum observed in F01004-2237 is unlike any known supernova or active galactic nucleus. Therefore, the most plausible explanation for this phenomenon is a TDE -- the first detected in a galaxy with an ongoing massive starburst. The fact that this event has been detected in repeat spectroscopic observations of a sample of 15 ultra-luminous infrared galaxies over a period of just 10 years suggests that the rate of TDEs is much higher in such objects than in the general galaxy population.
We present detailed radio observations of the tidal disruption event (TDE) AT2019dsg, obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and spanning $55-560$ days post-disruption. We find that the peak brightness of the radio emission increases until ~200 days and subsequently begins to decrease steadily. Using the standard equipartition analysis, including the effects of synchrotron cooling as determined by the joint VLA-ALMA spectral energy distributions, we find that the outflow powering the radio emission is in roughly free expansion with a velocity of $approx 0.07c$, while its kinetic energy increases by a factor of about 5 from 55 to 200 days and plateaus at $approx 5times 10^{48}$ erg thereafter. The ambient density traced by the outflow declines as $approx R^{-1.6}$ on a scale of $approx (1-4)times 10^{16}$ cm ($approx 6300-25000$ $R_s$), followed by a steeper decline to $approx 6times 10^{16}$ cm ($approx 37500$ $R_s$). Allowing for a collimated geometry, we find that to reach even mildly relativistic velocities ($Gamma=2$) the outflow requires an opening angle of $theta_japprox 2^circ$, which is narrow even by the standards of GRB jets; a truly relativistic outflow requires an unphysically narrow jet. The outflow velocity and kinetic energy in AT2019dsg are typical of previous non-relativistic TDEs, and comparable to those from Type Ib/c supernovae, raising doubts about the claimed association with a high-energy neutrino event.